Snowy School Days

Tis the season for winter weather, and this week was nothing shy of a winter wonderland.

Our area received nearly 3 feet of snow this past weekend, so we had a slow start to our school week. School left out early last Friday, due to the incoming weather, and we did not return until Wednesday this week. Classes were in session Wednesday and Thursday but on 2 hour delay schedules, so class time was modified once again. Friday, (today) was parent-teacher conferences, so students were not in school today.

Moral of my week, was learning how to adapt to changing schedules.

This week I began teaching Dairy Science to our Animal Care and Management (ACM) students. One of my favorite aspects of teaching this week, was having both of my ACM classes create a KWL chart on their knowledge of Dairy Science.

We filled in the 'Know' column as well as 'Want to know' column. I felt this was a fun interactive way to get my students think about dairy science and what prior knowledge they have and what they wish to learn throughout the next few weeks. A few of my students told me they enjoyed this approach to beginning a new lesson.  At the end of this unit we will follow up on our charts and complete the 'Learned' column.

As a result of all the snow we received at school, our heat system in our greenhouse took a turn for the worse and broke over the weekend. So on Wednesday, my Horticulture II students stepped away from our floriculture unit to rearrange our hydroponics system in the greenhouse. Because of the low temperatures in the greenhouse we decided to bring our hydroponics system into the classroom and save as many cucumber and tomato plants as possible.

 This was very stressful, because we had a lot to do in a short class time, but I think this was a great opportunity for team building. I saw each one of my 4 students working well with each other and helping wherever they were needed. Also, I think this was a great team building experience for Ms. Smith and I as we got to see how we work together under stress and keep composure to ensure our class stays in order.

At the end of the day we had the hydroponic system set up and functioning in our classroom, and our plants are still hanging in there.

This week was crazy, but I am looking forward to a regular scheduled week next week, teaching dairy science in the morning and floriculture in the afternoon.

Ms. Timmons


"Be fearless in the pursuit of what sets your soul on fire". -Anonymous